What is the sharing economy and what kind of business models emerge in it? What is the business, the value proposition and the innovation from some of the more significant businesses in the sharing economy? What is the operative model perspective of the sharing economy? What are the current debates? What is the impact of such business models in the local context? What can we learn from the sharing economy business models?

Competing on Business Models CycleDriven mostly by ICT Society, individuals, companies, all is rapidly changing. The increasing digital density is affecting an industry after another and the digital transformation is the name of day! Whatever one focuses in a particular industry or one discusses about technological changes as IoT, social networks, industry 4.0, or you say what, the end result is always opportunities (and risk) of changes in business models. Sometimes we may refer to this as the emergence of disruptive business models. Disruption is all present.

In this difficult context it is time to provide positive insides about how companies can respond or at least how it is the nature of change they may be facing. In particular, focusing on business model is fundamental to respond to all these technological changes. Companies, whatever new entrants or incumbents need to react by business model innovation and renewal. It is the follow-up competition of business models what will define winning business models and therefore real industry change.

Joan E. Ricart is professor of economics and strategic management and head of IESE's Strategic Management Department. He is also associate director of faculty for the departments of strategic management, economy, production, technology and operations, and entrepreneurship. In addition, Prof. Ricart holds IESE's Carl Schroeder Chair of Strategic Management. He served as president of the Strategic Management Society, an international organization comprised of academics, business practitioners and consultants dedicated to expanding knowledge and exchanging ideas on the strategic management process. He is also founding president of the European Academy of Management (EURAM) and vice-president of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management. In addition, he is Fellow of SMS, Euram and IAM <BR> <BR>As a visiting professor, Prof. Ricart has taught and conducted research in diverse settings including at IPADE (Mexico), INALDE (Colombia), IAE (Argentina), Universidad de Piura (Peru), IDE (Ecuador), UNISA (South Africa) and Università di Catania. During the academic year 1992-93 he was research fellow at Harvard Business School. He has also supervised a number of doctoral theses and research projects. <BR> <BR>Prof. Ricart has published numerous books, with publishing houses such afs Edward Elgar, J. Wiley and Sons, McGraw-Hill, NCC-Blackwell and Estudios y Ediciones IESE. He has also authored a number of articles in international and national journals including <i>Econometrica</i>, <i>European Economic Review</i>, <i>Interfaces</i>, <i>Journal of Finance</i>, <i>Journal of Information Systems</i>, <i>Knowledge Process Management</i>, <i>Quarterly Journal of Economics</i>, <i>Strategic Management Journal</i>, <i>Harvard Business Review</i>, <i>Long Range Planning</i>, <i>European Management Review</i>, <i>Management Research</i>, <i>Journal of International Business Studies</i>, <i>International Management Review</i>,<i> British Journal of Management</i>, <i>Harvard Deusto Business Review</i>, <i>Papeles de Economía</i>, and <i>Revista Española de Economía</i>. In addition, he has produced a wide range of teaching material (cases and technical and research notes). <BR> <BR>Prof. Ricart has been a member and director of the scientific committee of the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management (EIASM) and also serves on the Harvard Business School-IESE Committee. He is also a member of the R&D Steering Committee of the EFMD.

Christoph ('Chris') Zott is professor in the Department of Entrepreneurship. His current research centers on resource management in entrepreneurial firms, including areas such as the design of business models that combine the resources of entrepreneurial firms with those of suppliers, customers, and partners; the acquisition and mobilization of resources through entrepreneurs' symbolic management and affective influence actions; and the deployment of resources through dynamic capabilities. <BR> <BR>Prof. Zott has published on these topics in the <i>Administrative Science Quarterly</i>, the <i>Journal of Business Venturing</i>, <i>Organization Science</i>, and the <i>Strategic Management Journal,</i> as well as in other research outlets and books. He is a member of the editorial boards of the <i>Strategic Management Journal,</i> and the <i>Journal of Business Venturing</i>, as well as an associate editor for <i>the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal</i>. He also serves in the leadership Team of the Business Policy and Strategy Division of the Academy of Management.<BR> <BR>Prof. Zott teaches courses on entrepreneurship and private equity at MBA, EMBA and Executive Education levels. He also consults for growth ventures, as well as larger firms interested in entrepreneurial leadership. He holds graduate degrees with distinction in industrial engineering from Universität Karlsruhe (Germany) and Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble (France).He received his Ph.D. in commerce and business administration from the University of British Columbia (Canada).